First noob-class

Over the long weekend, I had the privilege to conduct a whisky tasting session for MY and his friends from church. Turns out, two of his friends were former schoolmates of mine. Small world, this Singapore island. The guys were having a bachelor's gathering and party for 3 members of their group, and I was honoured to share in that experience by introducing the guys to some of the representative and iconic whiskies. 

As a first time conducting a whisky-tasting, I thought the experience was pretty good! Just gonna list down some of the things that I learnt through the process:

1. Research and preparation is crucial. 

Knowing what whiskies the guys were going to taste beforehand was important, as I needed to do my own research, and dig out old tasting notes in order to know what to help the tasters look out for. That helped immensely as I was talking. The more familiar I was with the whiskies being tasted, the easier it was to talk about it, as I could fall back on preparation instead of having to do my own tasting, and try to help others make their way through the glass.

2. Logistics.

We didn't quite have enough glasses, so it was a bit challenging as it meant that everyone had to finish whatever was in their glass before we could move on. It also meant that not everyone managed to get the most out of the sniffing experience, which forms a significant aspect of whisky tasting.

The venue matters too, I think. For this session, we had it at a friend's house, so that was nice and comfy, but the seating arrangement, and the lack of a table accessible to everyone, made it a little tough to talk to everyone at the same time, while also allowing all the tasters to interact with each other. Access to water thus also became a little challenging.

3. Friendships

Whisky tasting is a great way to make friends, though it also helps if you're doing the tasting for friends. I think, because the 10 guys already knew each other, it was a lot easier getting them to talk about what they were tasting and smelling, and everyone was more comfortable asking questions. If I were conducting for strangers, I think more effort will have to be put into building rapport between the tasters.

4. Pacing

As we all only had 1 glass each, there were long pauses when we had to go around pouring whiskies for everyone. This led to lull periods between drams. It helped that there were snacks, and that the guys knew each other, so the long pauses were actually ok. If whisky tasting was conducted for people who did not know each other, pacing would have to be controlled a lot more tightly.

5. Whisky curation

As we had a few members in the group who were new to whisky tasting, the selection was meant to showcase the distinctive features of the major Scotch regional malts, though this is becoming increasingly illusory due to experimentation by various distilleries. Nonetheless, as an introduction, whiskies that were less complex, but more straightforward with what their region has to offer was probably, on hindsight, a good choice. (though I would perhaps have swapped one or two of the whiskies for something else, but that was going to be very expensive, and we were trying to conduct the session on a budget.)

My own notes on the whiskies will come in bits and pieces in the following days. Work has restarted, and things are getting busier. Whew.

And then there was the Cask Strength tasting session I had with PY, J, and EP the day before this noob master class. Whew. And then there's the whiskies tasted at LMDW, from their June free tasting...What a productive June! So currently on my whisky blogging backlog, are the following whiskies:

1. Arberlour A'bunadh, batch 58

2. Redbreast 12 CS

3. Lagavulin 12 (2016 special release)

4. Caol Ila CS by G&M, 2004/2016

5. North British 25, by Vom Fass

6. Glenkinchie 12

7. Balvenie 12 Triple Cask

8. Hakushu 12

9. Port Charlotte PC12 (2015 release)

10. Edradour 15 Fairy Flag

11. Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique

Wow. When will I ever manage to get all these online...? Soon, I hope...Stay tuned...

Helly......no, noir really....

This bottle was open for free tasting at LMDW this month. Those guys are doing great work, really. Apart from this, they also had a few other interesting bottles open, like some stuff from Valinch and Mallet, an Amrut,  American malt whisky Westland, Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique, and Edradour's 15 year old Fairy Flag. Will write about the whisky that left the deepest impression, not in a good way.

Quick notes of the Hellyer's Road Pinot Noir Finish (46.2% abv)

Colour - Gold

Nose - Hrmph. Odd one. Fairly malt forward, a little yeasty even. A fair amount of oak, and sawdust. After that, some...sour berries. Cranberries, a hint of flowers, but I can't get past the sour-ish yeasty notes.

Palate - Yeasty, again. Then the wine hits - tannic, sour...strawberries? Prunes. Oak. Malt. Hmm. A little sulphur. Some spiciness, and the alcohol feels a bit strong here.

Finish - Some vanilla, maybe some parsley or coriander, then wood and yeast.

Overall - I cannot shake the sour yeasty notes, which don't go well with the wine influence. Not good, I didn't like this. :(

Macallan in Vietnam

Not really a proper tasting per se, but managed to get a sample of the Macallan Rare Cask Black at the DFS in Hanoi's international airport. There was no sales staff there, but the bottles were labelled for tasting, had the sticker seal broken, and were obviously not full. And there were plastic cups available. That's an open invitation, right?

I figured that this is the only time I'll get to try the Macallan Rare Cask Black, so why not. I'm not going to pay $600 for NAS Macallan, no matter how impressive or bulky the packaging is.

This is mysterious. Black, can't see anything inside. The tiny words say that a small amount of Macallan is peated, only 100 casks. Do all 100 casks go into this Rare Cask Black? Probably not?

So, a peaty/smoky sherry bomb, yes? Sounds like Highland Park.

Macallan Rare Cask Black (abv 48%)

Colour - Teak-wood-ish

Nose - The peat and smoke isn't obvious at all on first nosing, becoming a little more prominent with some time. But this is still predominantly a sherried whisky. Raisins, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon...figs? A little peppery too. So far so good.

Palate - Mm. A little alcohol prickliness, but still, smooth. Velvety sherried notes - prunes, raisins, but without the tartness. Some vanilla. A hint of liquorice. The usual sherry spices - nutmeg, cloves. Maybe a touch of pepper. Charred oak and some smoke. A little drying and slightly bitter.

Finish - The smoke is the most obvious here, when you breath in through your mouth after swallowing. Still a little sweet. Not too long. Drying, with fairly strong tannin.

Overall - Pretty good, and the flavour profiles don't stray much from what's advertised. But, while good, this tastes like maybe a Highland Park 18 with less heather and floral notes but more sherry. It lacks the smooth subtlety of the Macallan 18, and doesn't have the abounding richness of the 12. The weak smoke that it gains, I feel, doesn't quite justify its pricing above the 2 other staple Macallans. Nor is it better than the Highland Park 18. So, why is this even worth $600...? Who'll pay for it...??

If you're thinking of getting this, don't. Get Highland Park instead, for your smoked sherry bomb fix.

Benromachs - 10 year, 10 year 100 proof, Peated

Not quite a vertical session as the Benromach Peated was done separately, but I've not done comparisons in a while, so might as well. I've done the Benromach 10 before, so just quick notes here for comparison's sake. Thanks to PY for both the 10, and the 10 year 100 proof.

Benromach 10 year (abv 43%)

Smells like what you'll expect from Benromach. Sherried whisky, sure, but not overly so. The spirit has quite a large voice here. Slightly meaty, a little smoke and soot, caramel, wood - like ply wood, or pencil wood. The palate is nice. Hardly any alcohol, and the sherry sweetness does not musk the slightly meaty and oily taste. Some tannins, some wood, there's quite a bit of complexity in this, you've got to let it take its time. Finish is not very long, but pleasant wood and sherry, with a little spice and alcohol kick at the back.

Think that's fairly consistent with my previous tasting.

Benromach 10 year 100 proof (abv 57%)

Colour: Burnished copper

Nose: Wow. This is way more intense. Similar notes, but a little extra. Some vanilla is coming through a little more clearly, lots of spices on this one. Cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper. A wisp of smoke. There's just so many things hitting you at the same time, this is quite crazy. A strong malt backing, the wood isn't as obvious in this bottling too, though there's something green in there. I think light peat. Not old dead trees kinda peat. Maybe...moss and/or algae.

Palate: Same intensity as the nosing. Many jabs from all directions. Pepper, ginger, liquorice. Very strong malt. Slightly leathery. Cloves. That's probably the sherry cask talking, though this meatiness seems to be in many Benromachs. Time for Mortlach to up its game. After that...some mint, apples, figs. Sweet, sweet honey. Brings some relief from the rest of the storm...and no, just a brief respite. Some smoke, vanilla, parsley? Something herby, in any case. Brown sugar...some tea tannin. More malt, liquorice, leather, sherry sweetness - prunes rather than raisins, I think.

Finish: Drying, but leaves you with a lot of leather, woodsmoke, ginger. Fairly long, actually.

Overall: This is a class above the regular 10. At $50 more, a no-brainer.

And this was done a few days earlier.

Benromach Peat Smoke (abv 43%)

Colour: white wine

Nose: Yes, this is peated. But not like Islay, obviously. Smoky but fairly clean, with little soot. What did they burn to make this? But the downside is, there isn't a lot on the nose. Give it some time to breathe...Some apples, unripe mangoes...maybe a whiff of vanilla. Not a noser, are you?

Palate: Ok, bigger here. Peat, and by that, I mean, again, not Islay, but more like burning moss. A lot of burning moss. The peat and smoke sits on top of a layer of solid fruitiness. I think this liquid has not known a sherry cask yet, so this is smoke wrapping up a naked Benromach. Mmmmmm. Fruity on figs, pears, apples, chiku, and some coconuts. A little meaty, but not much. Just a little. A hint of liquorice. But this whisky doesn't feel very well-integrated. Like, soot-covered fruits, rather than properly smoked fruits. No, these things don't exist (I hope).

Finish: Hmm. Fairly one dimensional on smoke and wood.

Overall: Not terrible, but not great. Average whisky from a great distillery.